Written Answers

Thursday 27 April 2000

Scottish Executive

Benefits

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government to ensure that all those resident in Scotland in receipt of state pensions and benefits receive all their entitlements.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The delivery of benefits advice is an operational matter for the Benefits Agency, and is a reserved matter. However, we recognise the importance of the take-up of benefit and pension entitlement in the elimination of poverty in Scotland. We welcome current efforts to maximise take-up and are in regular contact with UK Government ministers and Departments on these and other matters.

Cancer

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-3791 by Susan Deacon on 31 January 2000, what the average cost is of drug treatment for patients suffering from ovarian and breast cancer, using the drugs Taxol and Taxotere.

Susan Deacon: It is not possible to provide the average cost of treating patients with ovarian and breast cancer with Taxol and Taxotere because the dose used, and therefore the cost of the drugs, is determined by different factors such as the drug regimen prescribed and the patient's surface area.

Cancer

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what are the numbers of women reported as having breast or ovarian cancer since 1 January 2000, and how many have been prescribed Taxol and Taxotere as part of their treatment, broken down by health board area.

Susan Deacon: The numbers of women diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer are registered retrospectively by the Scottish Cancer Registry. The most recent complete year for which these data are available is 1997, and for which details are set out below.

  Taxol and Taxotere are recommended for hospital use only. Centrally collected data relates to items dispensed in the community by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors. Information about the number of women prescribed Taxol and Taxotere as part of their treatment is not therefore available centrally.

  Cancer is one of the top priorities for the NHS in Scotland. The overall strategy to bring about continuing improvements in the care and treatment of patients is dependent on robust quality assurance systems and reliable information which are essential to underpin the emerging cancer managed clinical networks as well as the work of the Clinical Standards Board for Scotland. Routine prospective audit systems have therefore been set in place nationwide using national recognised datasets which include information about treatment.

  

 

Numbers of Registrations: 
  1997
  



Health Board
  

Female Breast Cancer
  

Ovarian Cancer
  



Argyll and Clyde
  

281
  

51
  



Ayrshire and Arran
  

242
  

50
  



Borders
  

67
  

24
  



Dumfries and Galloway
  

109
  

12
  



Fife
  

263
  

38
  



Forth Valley
  

137
  

36
  



Grampian
  

308
  

58
  



Greater Glasgow
  

588
  

111
  



Highland
  

169
  

33
  



Lanarkshire
  

346
  

56
  



Lothian
  

473
  

108
  



Orkney
  

15
  

3
  



Shetland
  

10
  

4
  



Tayside
  

253
  

44
  



Western Isles
  

24
  

2
  



All Scotland
  

3,285
  

630

Cancer

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many health boards in Scotland have been made a written commitment to fund the prescribing of the drugs Taxol and Taxotere.

Susan Deacon: It is a matter for each health board to determine its prescribing policy on drugs, taking into account advice from local drug and therapeutic committees. When the Health Technology Board for Scotland, established on 1 April, begins work this summer, health boards will have access to a single focus of national advice on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health technologies, including drugs.

  Decisions on treatment with Taxol and Taxotere depend on the clinical judgement of the specialist experienced in the management of cancer.

Crofting

Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will implement to ensure sustainable development in crofting communities.

Ross Finnie: We will continue active support for the crofting way of life by giving crofting communities increased opportunity to manage their own sustainable development through the crofting community right to buy and by modernising crofting law.

  We will continue to administer the wide range of measures available to crofting communities in ways which aim to ensure that the developments which we support within these communities are sustainable.

Education

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether young people undertaking Higher Still programmes will receive adequate, relevant and appropriate career guidance.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Yes. Support for careers and other guidance for young people undertaking Higher Still programmes has been provided for schools, further education colleges and careers companies, through national training and the Progress and Planit databases.

Education

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take steps to encourage discussion of Third World development issues in schools.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Opportunities exist at every level in schools within the curriculum for the teaching of development education, including awareness of Third World development issues.

  The Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum are working with the Department for International Development to produce resources and support materials on development education for teachers.

Education

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-1471 by Peter Peacock on 30 March 2000, what targets, including timescales, it has for the allocation of e-mail addresses to primary and secondary schools.

Peter Peacock: Through the Programme for Government , the Scottish Executive is committed to ensuring an e-mail address for every school child by 2002. We have not set any targets for schools to have their own e-mail addresses.

Employment

Allan Wilson (Cunninghame North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the importance is of economic links with the United States in promoting employment in Scotland.

Henry McLeish: Economic links with the United States are extremely important. US companies have a long history of investment in Scotland. Over the last 20 years such investment has played a major role in the restructuring of the Scottish economy towards high technology industries, and has also brought new management practices and other benefits.

  The last ten years have seen Scotland attract over £3 billion worth of planned investment by US companies, involving the creation or safeguarding of some 44,700 planned jobs. The United States are also an important market for Scottish exports. In 1998 exports from Scotland to the US amounted to some £1.9 billion, (i.e. 10% of Scotland’s total exports).

Enterprise

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is currently investigating Developing North Ayrshire and what the scope of any such investigation is.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive is not currently investigating Developing North Ayrshire.

Enterprise

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to give the workforce of Developing North Ayrshire the opportunity to give their views on the management of the organisation in any investigation.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive is not investigating Developing North Ayrshire.

Environment

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-5239, S1W-5240 and S1W-5241 by Sarah Boyack on 24 March 2000, how it will implement or fulfil the Partnership Agreement pledge to introduce strategic environmental assessment for all government policies in the term of its Government, given that the EU Directive is not yet finalised and will have a three year period before it requires implementation.

Sarah Boyack: Strategic environmental assessment will be a valuable tool in the delivery of our Programme for Government commitment to delivery of sustainable development. The Ministerial Group on Sustainable Scotland has already taken significant steps to ensure that sustainable development is embedded in government and these will take effect over coming months. The EC Directive is now expected to be adopted by the end of the year. This will enable the Scottish Executive to develop a programme for implementation enabling fulfilment of our Programme for Government pledge.

European Convention on Human Rights

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the European Convention on Human Rights will have on police boards.

Mr Jim Wallace: When the Human Rights Act 1998 comes into force in October this year, it will be possible for the actions of police authorities, in common with those of other authorities, to be challenged in the domestic courts on the grounds that they are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. We are not aware that any of the functions of police authorities are particularly vulnerable to successful challenge. To the extent that challenge to the actions of authorities or police officers have to be responded to or are successful, there may be additional costs for authorities, but it is not possible to anticipate what these costs would be.

European Convention on Human Rights

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the European Convention on Human Rights will have on Fire Brigade Boards.

Mr Jim Wallace: When the Human Rights Act 1998 comes into force in October this year, it will be possible for the actions of fire authorities, in common with those of other authorities, to be challenged in the domestic courts on the grounds that they are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. We are not aware that any of the functions of fire authorities are particularly vulnerable to successful challenge. To the extent that challenges to the actions of fire authorities have to be responded to or are successful, there may be additional costs for them, but it is not possible to anticipate what these costs would be.

Ferry Operations

Dr Winnie Ewing (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it proposes to take to retain the ferry link between Campeltown and Ballycastle.

Sarah Boyack: The Executive recognises that this service is an important route, though not a lifeline service.

  It is regrettable that Sea Containers Ltd has decided to withdraw from the route. A package of support, which was offered to Sea Containers Ltd, was developed between the Scottish Executive, the Scotland Office, Argyll and Islands Enterprise and Argyll and Bute Council which went as far as possible within the boundaries of legal constraints. This funding package may be available to another operator, and I hope that another operator can be found.

  The Executive cannot subsidise the service directly because assistance for ferry services which operate to destinations outwith Scotland is a reserved matter.

Film Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will outline the new responsibilities given to Scottish Screen from April 2000 in relation to distributing lottery monies.

Rhona Brankin: Scottish Screen has been added to the list of National Lottery distributing bodies with effect from 7 April. Scottish Screen is responsible for applications relating to film production in Scotland. A strategic plan has been drawn up and new management arrangements put in place.

Film Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria will be set by Scottish Screen in distributing lottery monies to film projects.

Rhona Brankin: Scottish Screen will set criteria in line with the Policy Directions issued by the Scottish ministers to them as the National Lottery distributor for film production in Scotland. I will place a statement of the criteria in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Film Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list investment in film projects in Scotland during 1999 by companies located (a) in Scotland and (b) elsewhere.

Rhona Brankin: The following feature films were shot in Scotland by Scottish based companies:

  Aberdeen, Mist Gate (now Lomond Shores), Shaping a Nation, Daybreak and One Life Stand.

  The following were shot in Scotland by companies not based in Scotland:

  Complicity, The World is Not Enough, Women Talking Dirty, Uddam Singh, The Little Vampire, House of Mirth, The Cup, To End All Wars, Creatures and Strictly Sinatra.

Film Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many Scottish films British Screen has invested over the last 10 years.

Rhona Brankin: British Screen has provided finance for three Scottish feature films and project development finance for a number of others. It has also invested in several short films, including financing the Prime Cuts scheme for three years.

Film Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many films made in Scotland in the last 10 years have been commissioned from London-based companies.

Rhona Brankin: London-based companies have shot 33 of the 87 feature films made in Scotland between 1991 and 1999.

Film Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many film production companies are based in Scotland.

Rhona Brankin: The Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT) has 40 fully producing members in Scotland, including companies which produce for television. I understand that the great majority of production companies are members of PACT.

Film Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the Scottish Arts Council’s £2.5 million funding for Scottish film projects is returned unspent.

Rhona Brankin: Only a very small part of the funds have been returned. However, in a few cases, funds have not been issued where film-makers have not been able to complete their financing.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-4249 by Susan Deacon on 22 February 2000, whether it will provide an address and contact details, for the relevant department of each health board and NHS Trust, where details of the costs involved in filling vacant nursing posts may be obtained.

Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally in the detail required. The names and addresses of all health boards, special health boards and NHS Trusts are available on the Scottish Health on the Web (SHOW) site at www.show.scot.uk.

Health Promotion

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average life expectancy in Scotland was in 1979 and what it was in 1997 and how these figures influence its policy in relation to the promotion of health education in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: In the period 1979 to 1997, average life expectancy increased from 74.4 to 78 years for women and from 68.2 to 72.6 years for men. But these levels remain significantly lower than those of other European countries and substantial variation exists in life expectancy between the rich and the poor, with that gap having widened since the mid-1980s.

  In consequence, the White Paper, Towards A Healthier Scotland, which was endorsed by the Scottish Parliament last September, sets out a wide-ranging programme of action to improve Scotland’s health. It gives full recognition to the impact on health of poverty and deprivation. Enhanced health education, with a specific focus on health inequalities, is a key component of the strategy and is now being taken forward, enthusiastically, by the Health Education Board for Scotland and health board Health Promotion Departments.

Housing

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what legal protection is available to consumers purchasing new houses in Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: Protection is available from a variety of sources. Firstly, consumers may seek legal advice on the terms under which they agree to purchase a property. They are protected in their purchase by consumer legislation (which is a reserved matter) and by the common law of contract and delict; conditions in the missives of sale, for example, continue to apply after the purchase. They can also seek a warranty in respect of a new house: the Government has encouraged the sale of new houses to be accompanied by warranties, such as those provided through the National House Building Council. They are also protected by the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991, which makes it an offence for an estate agent, builder or solicitor to give any description of a property that is not truthful, and by the Building Standards (Scotland) Regulations 1990 as amended with which developers of new houses have to comply.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Community Service Orders were imposed in Edinburgh over the last five years and, for each of those years, how many of these orders were (a) completed within the allotted time of one year, (b) subject to breach of community service proceedings and (c) completed but in a period of time in excess of one year.

Mr Jim Wallace: The total number of Community Service Orders imposed in Edinburgh Sheriff Court in the most recent five years for which data is available is given in the following table. The figures refer to the number of people for whom a Community Service Order was the main penalty imposed. The other information requested is not held centrally.

  


Year of Sentence


Number




1993
  

723
  



1994
  

651
  



1995
  

573
  



1996
  

632
  



1997
  

604

Justice

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to allow district courts to use community service as part of their sentencing regime.

Mr Jim Wallace: Community Service Orders, which are an alternative to a custodial sentence, are available in the Stipendiary Magistrates Court in Glasgow. They remain available in the district courts of the former Tayside Region where they were introduced on a pilot basis some 20 years ago.

  The Scottish Executive has no plans to extend the availability of Community Service Orders to district courts.

National Parks

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has logged requests from members of the public for their consultation document National Parks for Scotland ; whether there has been an unmet demand, especially in the Badenoch and Strathspey area, for copies of the document; what consideration it gave to the limited Internet access for persons within Badenoch and Strathspey as a means of obtaining copies; whether it will ensure that all parties who expressed an interest will receive copies of the consultation paper; whether it will extend the period for consultation from 3 March 2000 by 30 days so as to include comments from any persons who may have experienced difficulty in obtaining a copy of the paper and ensure that additional copies will be available, and whether it is satisfied that it has involved fully the local community.

Sarah Boyack: Copies of the consultation document have been distributed in response to all requests received from members of the public and interest groups who contacted the Scottish Executive. All requests have been logged. Over 2,500 copies have now been distributed. All Community Councils in the proposed National Parks areas were sent copies. We had no plans to extend the consultation period: this would inevitably have delayed the introduction of the Bill into Parliament. Copies are still available from the Scottish Executive. The text is also available on the Scottish Executive Internet website.

  Local communities with an interest in the Bill have therefore had a full opportunity to comment on it. In addition to the consultation on the content of the Bill, there was the previous consultation on the National Parks, conducted by Scottish Natural Heritage throughout 1998. There will of course be further opportunities for comment in the course of parliamentary consideration of the Bill, and of the formulation of National Park Designation Orders.

National Parks

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to encourage sustainable development within Scotland’s proposed National Parks.

Sarah Boyack: Sustainable development will be an important feature of the work of National Park authorities. The focus for this will be through the National Park Plan which each National Park authority will be required to prepare and submit to Scottish Ministers for approval. I envisage that statutory ministerial guidance to National Park authorities will emphasis the need for park plans to incorporate policies on sustainable development.

Nuclear Base Protest

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-1265 by Mr Jim Wallace on 2 March 2000, whether it will indicate the total cost of the police presence at the Faslane Nuclear Base on 14 February 2000.

Mr Jim Wallace: Strathclyde Police have estimated the cost of policing the anti-nuclear demonstration at Faslane on 14 February at £34,000.

Parliamentary Questions

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to expedite replies to written parliamentary questions and letters from MSPs.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive’s aim is to provide accurate answers as quickly as possible. The number of questions to Ministers has risen three-fold and the number of letters by 50%.

  We are aware that response times must improve. Recording, monitoring and workflow systems are being improved and standardised across the Executive.

  An audit of parliamentary questions received and times taken to reply was published on 15 February 2000. We will publish quarterly information on numbers and response times for both questions and letters.

Public Toilets

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to prevent the closure of public toilets throughout Aberdeenshire.

Mr Frank McAveety: It is a matter for Aberdeenshire Council itself to determine its expenditure priorities and allocate the necessary resources accordingly. Aberdeenshire’s guideline and grant have increased in the last two years.

Public Transport

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for the regulation of bus services and whether it will consider creating a Scottish bus watchdog and customers’ council, on the same lines as regulators of rail, water and other services.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive’s proposals for the improvement of bus services in Scotland are contained in the document The Integrated Transport Bill – The Executive’s Proposals published on 10 February 2000. We are currently considering what may be the most appropriate arrangements for securing bus user representation.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the amount of money ring fenced and earmarked for the opening of the Larkhall rail line and the source of that funding.

Sarah Boyack: As well as seeking funding under the Public Private Partnership arrangements, for which the project may be eligible for up to £2.26 million per annum level playing field support, the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Authority was awarded £5 million from the Scottish Executive’s 1998-99 Transport Challenge Fund towards the cost of the Larkhall to Milngavie rail route project.

Raptors

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what research is being done into the causes of the reduction in song bird populations in Scotland and whether predation by raptors is being considered as a contributory factor.

Sarah Boyack: I am not aware of any specific research on the Scottish songbird populations but understand there is work being done at UK level by the British Trust for Ornithology and the RSPB. The UK Raptor Working Group concluded in its report published in February of this year that predation by raptors is not a contributory factor in the decline in some songbird populations.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a timetable for the completion of each multi-modal corridor study announced in the Strategic Roads Review and whether it plans to publish an action plan to achieve the accident reduction targets indicated in the review.

Sarah Boyack: Following advertisement in early January, we expect to appoint consultants to undertake the scoping study shortly. This phase of the corridor study is likely to take some three to four months. Subsequent timing is dependent on the findings of that study. Our present expectation is that the main study will be commissioned late this summer and will take some 18 months to complete.

  The Scottish Executive and the UK Government will shortly be publishing a road safety strategy for the period to 2010. The strategy will underpin new and challenging targets for casualty reductions, which will build on the progress already made. Fatal and serious casualties in Scotland have halved since the early 1980s.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many roads have been detrunked since May 1997, specifying the distance detrunked in each case.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has detrunked the following sections of road since May 1997. The reclassification followed their replacement by new sections of trunk road, with the exception of the A814 Garelochhead Bypass, which has been removed from the trunk road network.

  


Route


Section


Length (km)




A74(M)
  

Paddys Rickle Bridge-Hardhope
  

6.71
  



A74(M)
  

Middlegill-Beattock
  

2.15
  



A74(M)
  

Beattock-Dinwoodie Green
  

13.20
  



M9
  

Newbridge Interchange
  

0.35
  



A9
  

Logie Easter-Garrick Bridge
  

1.15
  



A75
  

The Glen Improvement
  

4.00
  



A814
  

Garelochhead Bypass
  

3.41
  



A828
  

Creagan Bridge Diversion
  

8.80
  



A830
  

Polnish Bridge-Loch Nan Uamh
  

1.05
  



A96
  

Blackburn Bypass
  

3.30
  



A96
  

Kintore Bypass
  

3.60

Roads

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been raised through fines as a result of the speed cameras on the A90 Forfar bypass.

Mr Jim Wallace: Since March 1999, £183,360 has been collected from fixed penalties issued by the police as a result of the speed cameras on the A90 Forfar bypass. It is not possible to provide figures for other fines and conditional offers imposed because of detection by these cameras.

Roads

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether funding will be made available to the Highlands and Islands Integrated Transport Forum to commission a study to assess the economic impact on their communities of weight restrictions on roads and bridges and whether these restrictions are due to the level of investment in local road maintenance.

Sarah Boyack: It is for the Highlands and Islands Integrated Transport Forum to consider whether or not to fund such a study from the resources available to it. As local roads authorities, it is for the individual councils concerned to decide what priority should be given to the maintenance of local roads and the upgrading of associated bridges and to allocate the necessary funding from the resources available to them.

Roads

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when work will begin on the agreed improvements to the junction of the A73 and A702.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no current plans to improve the junction of the A73 and A702.

Roads

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what input it will now have into Her Majesty’s Government’s project to upgrade the A74 Gretna to Carlisle to motorway standard.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive Development Department was a member of the steering group that produced the revised proposals for the A74 between Carlisle and Guardsmill announced by Lord Macdonald on 24 March.

  Future consultation arrangements between the Highways Agency, who will have responsibility for delivering the project, and the Scottish Executive Development Department will be finalised during the summer.

Roads

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when improvement work will commence on the A90 at Hatton.

Sarah Boyack: The detailed design work for the improvement scheme at A90 Hatton Bends will be completed by the end of this year. It is anticipated that, subject to the satisfactory completion of the necessary statutory procedures, work will commence on site in 2001-02.

Schools

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to safeguard the provision of EU subsidised milk for schools.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive supports fully the EU School Milk Subsidy Scheme and wishes to see it continue on its present form. This is reflected in the UK Government’s negotiating stance in the Council of Ministers in Brussels where a decision on the future of the scheme has still to be taken.

Scientific Research

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how scientific research is being supported in Scotland.

Henry McLeish: Scientific research in Scotland is supported in a number of ways. The Executive is currently developing a science strategy for Scotland which will address how to achieve a coherent and co-ordinated approach among the various bodies which support scientific research in Scotland.

Sex Education

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why, if sex education is generally well handled in schools as it has stated, underage pregnancies are on a steep rate of increase.

Peter Peacock: Underage pregnancies are not on a steep rate of increase. Nevertheless they are too high. The Executive is taking forward a range of measures to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy and to meet the commitments set out in Towards a Healthier Scotland . As part of our effort, the Executive is committed to the provision of effective and appropriate sex education for all of our young people.

Sexual Abuse

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is in relation to supporting women, including child victims, who have suffered rape or other sexual abuse.

Angus MacKay: The Executive is committed to ensuring that these victims have access to the support they need.

  We will continue to address their needs in initiatives such as the work being undertaken by the Scottish Partnership on Domestic Abuse and the action plan following the report Towards a Just Conclusion.

Trust Ports

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what are the methods and criteria for the appointment of members of Trust Port Authorities and whether it has any plans to amend said methods or criteria.

Sarah Boyack: The methods and criteria for the appointment of members of trust ports in Scotland are set out in Modernising Trust Ports: A Guide to Good Governance published in January 2000. The guidance explains that the standards apply to trust ports in Scotland. It also states that the Executive has the option to amend the standards for application in Scotland, though the Executive has no plans to do so at present.

Trust Ports

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it will make to the Office of Fair Trading regarding the operation of Trust Port Authorities, in particular Cromarty Firth Ports.

Sarah Boyack: The Executive maintains contact with UK regulatory bodies, including the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on matters of mutual interest, or where it is consulted by OFT in the course of their work.

Visually Impaired People

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will undertake a comprehensive review of services for the visually impaired in Scotland.

Iain Gray: Visually impaired people use a wide range of health, social and voluntary sector services. The Social Work Services Inspectorate published a review of social work services for people with a sensory impairment in 1998 entitled Sensing Progress . No further reviews are planned.

Voluntary Sector

Ian Jenkins (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received recently from voluntary sector organisations regarding the future structure of funding for the sector.

Jackie Baillie: The Scottish Executive’s relationship with the voluntary sector, including funding matters, is set out in the Scottish Compact , which was endorsed by this Parliament last November, and in the good practice guides that support it. The implementation of the Compact is currently being reviewed jointly by the Executive and the sector and I shall report on this to the Parliament in due course.

  We have consulted on the funding of local Councils for Voluntary Service as part of a wider review of CVSs and I shall shortly make an announcement on this. We have also just begun a review of the funding arrangements for the black and ethnic minority voluntary sector. Our aim is to complete the review by the autumn.

Waste Management

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to encourage the minimisation, re-use and recycling of waste in Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is committed to the principles of the National Waste Strategy: Scotland, which it adopted in December last year. The strategy is a long-term plan to create a sustainable waste management system in Scotland and promotes minimisation, re-use and recycling as part of the waste hierarchy.

  The Scottish Executive has supported several recycling programmes, including directly funding major materials reclamation facilities in Glasgow and East Ayrshire. The Executive is also a key player and co-funder of the REMADE project, which is investigating new uses for recycled materials. This will help to stabilise markets for recyclables and, therefore, make recycling a more economically viable activity.

Water Authorities

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent the water authorities are permitted to undertake joint initiatives, projects or expenditure.

Sarah Boyack: The powers of the Scottish water authorities to engage in activities subsidiary to the discharge of their statutory functions are granted under section 89 of the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. In particular, section 89(3) grants the power "to do anything (whether in Scotland or elsewhere) which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of their functions."

  The Scottish water authorities are therefore empowered to pursue jointly any initiative, project or expenditure insofar as such activities meet the provisions of the Act.

Water Charges

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the split, in terms of the total amount collected via water charges, between domestic and non-domestic water charge payers will be in the next two years and what the equivalent figures were in each of the last four years.

Sarah Boyack: The figures requested are detailed below for each year since the water authorities were established. Forecast figures for 2001-02 will not be available until the charges schemes for that year are agreed. On average, domestic customers in Scotland account for around 56% of water volume supplied, and 65% of the volume of waste water treated:

  Water and Sewerage Charge revenues, Scotland (£ million)

  

 

Actual
1996-97
  

Actual
1997-98
  

Actual
1998-99
  

Forecast
1999-2000
  

Forecast
2000-01
  



Domestic
  

242.4
  

260.8
  

295.3
  

326.9
  

413.7
  



Non-Domestic
  

249.6
  

251.6
  

267
  

285.1
  

332.4
  


 

492
  

512.4
  

562.3
  

612
  

746.1
  



Other
  

25.2
  

27.9
  

26.8
  

26.9
  

28.5
  



Total
  

517.2
  

540.3
  

589.1
  

638.9
  

774.6